College Football is the greatest spectator sport in America. Tailgating is an art form, sampling the local fare, traditions and partaking in a beverage or two is a must. Atmosphere is everything! If you don't attend a game, you can still tailgate right in the confines of your own man-cave. Enjoy the site!
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Sunday, January 12, 2014

The Tailgate was fortunate enough to attend its
third National Championship in 5 years. I returned to the Rose Bowl venue a
mere five days after leaving it on New Year’s Day. Tailgate Tony scored tix at
face value that put me on the 45 yard line, 35 rows up. Not bad for someone who
collected coke bottles for coin as a kid! We met up with Chris “The Camster”
Desimone and his Bride for pre-game festivities. I was adorned in my FSU ball
cap having people believe I was on the side of the CrimaNoles. Who knew Frostburg State University would
represent at the National Championship? Because our crew flew in, we did not
have Tailgate gear, so I was not able to prepare any Iron Chef Tailgate Chow.
In and around the stadiums were more food vendors than Florida State fans. We
had no shortage of choices including bacon wrapped dogs, brats and teriyaki
bowls. We even managed to recreate the fleeing mob scene from Empire of The Sun
as we got sucked into the vortex of the throng of Auburn worshippers as the
players arrived in their busses. Was not sure we would get out unscathed.

Camster, Cheryl and Tony

We found a Boomer Sooner Tailgating

Curly, Mo & Larry

Near death experience as the busses arrived

Once in the stadium it was evident that the
color orange would outnumber Seminole red two to one. Even Sir Charles Barkley
was there to support War Eagle. Throughout the first half, you would have thought
you were at Jordan Hare as Auburn raced out to a 21-3 lead. QB Nick Marshall
and Heisman finalist Tre Mason were unstoppable and Jameis Winston looked like he
was as scared as King Henry’s taster sipping his potentially poisoned wine for
him.

Orange from the Rose Bowl to the San Gabriel Mountains

By the end of the half, Jaemis momentarily collected himself and drove the
Noles for their first TD of the game. The Noles were still facing an 11 point
deficit. Coach Jimbo Fisher fresh out of ideas on how to motivate his team
called in our old Buddy Marshall Mathers III to speak to his team in the locker
room and remind them that this was their one shot:

With that proper motivation at halftime, the
Nole defense tightened up in the third holding Auburn scoreless while the
Jameis led offense could only muster up a field goal narrowing the Tiger lead
to 8. As we all know now, the fourth quarter was one for the ages. Florida
State scored a TD early in the fourth to cut the previously insurmountable lead
to 1 point. The cry of “War Eagle” in the Bowl was now being replaced with the
Tomahawk Chop. With just under five minutes left, Auburn kicked a field goal to
stretch the lead to four. Incredulously, a number of people in our section left
the stadium to beat the traffic. They are this week’s Beiber winners! FSU,
responded with a kick return for a TD only to allow Auburn to orchestrate a
lengthy drive culminating in a beautiful Tre Mason touchdown run with 1:19 left
on the clock. What a swing of the pendulum! Guess what, the game was not over.
Famous Jameis aka J Wizzle showed the world why he is the reigning Heisman
Trophy winner by leading the Noles to a game winning Touchdown in spectacular
fashion. The Orange disappeared as quickly as a politician after signing a tax
hike bill. Final score of the last BCS Championship game: FSU 34 – Auburn 31.

We are the Champions ...of the world!

Game over, season over!

Florida State finally broke apart the SEC
Monopoly on the BCS Championship after seven years. Those that forced Bobby Bowden into early
retirement a few years back now look prophetic and wise. However, Kudos to
Auburn Coach Malzahn for turning around a train wreck of a team he inherited
last year and took them to within 3 points of a National Championship. I
predict the NFL will be calling the boy genius by next year.

The season is over for the Tailgate so here are
a few highlights from this magical season:

The
Fee Family and Rodney for the Friday night bash in Greenvillle, SC

Brian
and Francie Wilkinson in the Grove at Ole Miss

Dr.
Matt Sheffield in the Tiger Den at Auburn

Coach
Troy Wingerter of ULL for the sideline passes

Next season’s plans are well underway. Some of
the new venues we are planning on attending games at:

University of South
Carolina - Cockaboose gatin

University of Georgia
- Between the hedges

University of Oregon –
Drown the Ducks

University of
Tennessee – Boatgating with the Vol Navy

Arizona State
University – Notre Dame gathering

Wake Forest
University – Gathering of BC supporters

Either Nebraska or
Iowa – Reunion of the children of the corn

Tailgate Beiber of the year goes to all the
neutered males out there that made excuses to not join us at one of the many
Tailgates this year. Instead you went shopping for curtains and baby shower
gifts with your wives, or you participated in a scrapbooking exercise with the
ladies, or hosted a neighborhood progressive wine and cheese party on a Saturday
afternoon. Yeah you know who you are. I am calling you all out. Football season
was designed for men to exercise their manness. It is our birthright and it is
expected. If you prefer I don’t call you out next year, just man up and get on
my dance card now and stick to the commitment. Oh yeah, you don’t need to ask your
wife or girlfriend for permission, you tell her what you are doing. That is how
it is done here at DFT HQ, right dear?

I want to once again thank all of you for your
e-mails and comments of encouragement for me to continue writing about this
journey I am on. Because of your support, I am considering writing a book one
day after I have watched a game in every stadium. I also want to thank Mrs.
Tailgate and the Tailgatettes for allowing me to partake in my time consuming
hobby/obsession. So as is the case every year at this time, I must say goodbye
until the next season is upon us. With that I bid you adieu with this little
diddy:

Sunday, January 5, 2014

The Rose
Bowl experience – As previously
mentioned, I would be attending the Rose Bowl Parade and Game with my Nephew
Nate, a sophomore at MSU. I loaded up the Griswold wagon on New Year’s Eve with
all the necessary Tailgating gear for an awesome experience and headed South down
I-5. Halfway to LA I was informed that Nate missed his connection in Chicago
and would not arrive until game day after the Parade, or maybe he wouldn’t. So
with Mr. Murphy firmly entrenched in our plans, we had some uncertainty to deal
with. At 5:30 AM on New Year’s Day Mr. Murphy left us as I received a text from
Nate indicating he got the last standby seat on a flight to LA and would arrive
at 10:15. Upon pickup and providing refreshments
for my nephew, we jetted over to Pasadena and had the Tailgate up and running
by 11:30 AM. We set up in Lot 10 on the
Brookside Golf Course a few Tiger Woods drives away from the stadium. We were joined
by the Big Cat Mihailo Panovich and his family who did make the parade. Food
was prepared in advanced by Mrs. T for me to just toss on the grill and not
overcook. We chowed down on “Fowl Thing” sandwiches which are made with
boneless, skinless chicken pieces marinated in teriyaki, grilled and smothered
in swiss cheese and topped off with grilled pineapples on a bun. The usual kielbasa
was prepared as an appie. Feeling generous, we located our friends the Haberl’s
who had hiked six miles from the Parade to meet us and fed them sandwiches and
beverages. They looked like they had just survived the Bataan death march.

A misplaced Wildcat and his Pride

The Nephew working for his food!

Enjoying New Year's Day Tailgate chow

The weather was near perfect at 73 degrees with
blue skies and no wind. The only thing that could make this day any better
would be to have Keith Jackson do the color commentary “Whoa Nellie!” Nate
headed to the rowdy student section and I met up with Steve the Spartan fan who
I bought my ticket from and we headed into the stadium. This was the 100th
rendition of the “Granddaddy of Them All” in the old venerable stadium. No
flyover this year due to sequestration, but I hope our CIC is having a great
three week vacation in Hawaii on our dime! Once inside the gate, we searched for our game
program but were informed they were all sold out. A young lady named Bo who
worked for the Rose Bowl, noticed our anguish and said she would locate two for
us. She followed through and we at Tailgate Nation are forever grateful to her.
My seat was in section 16, row 77 in the midst of Spartan nation. Many
characters were in my immediate section who I made fast friends with. One
gentleman adorned in a green sparty cape was so inebriated I thought he was
speaking in tongues. Perhaps he was.

Go Green! Go White!

My new Besties

The game featured two of the top defenses in
the nation known for their hard nose, hard hitting old school styles. MSU would
be without senior defensive Captain Max Bulloch who was suspended for the game.
We still don’t know what his transgression was. Stanford behind Cool Hand Kevin
Hogan jumped out to a 10 - 0 lead. The MSU faithful who had not witnessed a
Rose Bowl since Reagan was President were distraught. However, magic was in the
air as Sparty came back to knot things up at 17 at halftime. The second half
was one of the more impressive defensive showings I have witnessed in my
lifetime as the Spartans held the Cardinal in check. Stanford was stuffed on fourth and one, on
their final drive in an attempt to take the lead sealing the victory for Spartacus.
Final score MSU 24 – Stanford 20. We departed for parts North satisfied that we
had just experienced and incredible outing.

Green on the move

Christmas tree colors

In other BCS Bowl action:

Sugar
Bowl– How
Sweet it is – Everyone likes to see the underdog pull out an improbable
victory unless you are the concubine of Goliath and think David has little man’s
complex and small hands, or you laid down 5 large on Tyson to knock out Buster
Douglas in the first round. Even better yet, if you are the Premier of the
Soviet Union in 1980 watching the Semi-final Hockey match between the USSR and
the USA. The remaining populace, the 99%ers are always rooting for the little
guy. Such was the case when BCS Bob Stoops led the Sooners against two time
defending National Champion Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. In Tailgate Headquarters
this game had special meaning as #2 will be attending Sooner U next fall. The
size of Alabama and their recent success & experience under Coach Nasty
Nicky would lead any sane man or woman to believe OU had as much chance as Luxembourg
holding off the Third Reich during WWII. However, in this season of BCS bowl
game upsets it was not to be Alabama’s night. It was however Trevor’s Knight,
as the OU Frosh QB led Boomer Sooner to the biggest upset in BCS Bowl history.
Knight threw for over 300 yards and four TD’s. The Sooner defense that can’t
tackle did however put pressure on AJ McCarron-Webb throughout the game forcing
him to throw to things other than his receivers. Final score: OU 45 – Bama 31. OU fans smitten
with the win were heard saying: “after all they did let Forest Gump in their
school, how good can they be?”

Oh AJ, I thought you were a winner. Do you have T Knight's #?

A group of Sooner pranksters in our hood after the Sugar Bowl.

Fiesta
Bowl Upset – George O’Leary and the
Central Florida Golden Knights were thrilled to be in their first BCS Bowl as
were the heavily favored Big 12 Champs the Baylor Bears. Most people felt UCF
was undeserving as their conference, the new AAC is widely regarded as a joke
for an automatic qualifying conference. It turns out the joke was on us. UCF
raced out to an early lead and never looked back. The Bear defense was clawless
as the Knights racked up 52 points and won by 10.

Orange – Last time Ohio State and Clemson played in
1978 in the Gator Bowl, Woody Hayes punched a Clemson player and his storied career
as the Buckeye coach came to an abrupt halt. Had Woody been alive this time
around we may have seen the same result. Senior Tahj Boyd and the fighting
Tigers upended the favored scarlet and gray squad 40-35 squeezing the juice out
of Urban and the Buckeye Nation. It was reported that a fist came out of the
grave by the headstone of one Wayne Woodrow Hayes that night. Charlie Bauman
wherever you are, beware!

RIP Woody...Please?

Other
Bowl Action –

Armed Forces – Navy 24 –MTSU 6

Music City – Ole Miss 25 – GA Tech 17

Alamo – Oregon 30 –Texas 7 (Remember the Alamo
Mack)

Holiday – Texas tech 37 – Arizona State 23

V100 – Arizona 42 – Boston College 19

Sun – UCLA 42- VA Tech 12

Liberty – Mississippi State steam rolls Rice 44
-7

Chic Fil A – Texas A&M and Johnny Miracle
52 – Duke 48

Gator – Nebraska 24 – Georgia 19

Heart of Dallas – North Texas 36 – UNLV 14

Outback – LSU steaks out a win 21-14 over Iowa

Capital One – South Carolina 34 – Wisconsin 24

Cotton – Another Poke Choke as Mizzou takes
down Oklahoma State 41-31.

Compass – Vandy 41 – Houston 24

The BC Faithful

One happy Cornhusker

Congratulations to the North Dakota State Bison
for winning their third straight FCS Championship over the Towson State Tigers.
I want to give special Props to Coach Craig Bohl for sticking around until the
season ended after he accepted the head coaching job at Wyoming a month ago. He
did it the right way not abandoning his team like so many other coaches have
done once they accept a new job. His players felt that he was not turning his
back on them and they played their hearts out for him. Job well done.

Cousin Bison Bobby and his Babes at the FCS Ship in Frisco, TX

Beiber
Award – To the fans that get so
inebriated at a BCS Bowl game that they miss all the action. I ran into quite a
few of these folks in Pasadena who either spent their own coin or Daddy’s to spring
for an expensive ticket only to have no memory of ever being there. One guy prior
to the game could not even stand on his own two feet. Look, I am no teetotaler
and I enjoy a cold beverage or two at the Tailgate, but when you attend a big
game with meaning it is better to be alert and sober. You don’t want to be THAT GUY!

Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son!

Next up – I will be heading back down to Pasadena
Monday for the BCS National Championship game. Joining me will be Pauley
Walnuts and Cam Tucker. I have my FSU cap already (Frostburg State University).

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Tailgate Connect

Dan From The Tailgate

DFT

I live for college football weekends. I love tailgating before and after games and absorbing the atmosphere and traditions of the host school. I am on a quest to see a game in every "real" stadium for D1A football in the country and attend as many games and Tailgates as I can. It is more fun to accomplish this with friends and family, thus the DFT Nation has grown far and wide over the last 15 years. I have also added lower Division schools as part of my annual mix. Each Season, I will travel the country and attend numerous games in college stadiums that I have not previously been to and take in the whole experience and blog about it.

I also like to hear about your game day experiences each week. But it is not just about attending different stadiums, our Tailgate has many repeat locations each year for traditional games that are just plain fun like Army- Navy. Last but not least, I am a college football polygamist. Born a Notre Dame fan, Big OU Sooners and Boise State fan. And of course I root on Army and my Alma Mater Frostburg State. Nonetheless, I love all college football and there is no such thing as a bad game.

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Tailgate Recipe of The Week

The most delicious Slow Cooker Beer Mac & Cheese that is totally homemade, uses your favorite beer and takes your mac and cheese to a whole…

Ingredients

Meat

1 lb Beef stew meat

Produce

1 14.5 oz can Tomatoes, fire-roasted

Canned Goods

1 cup Beef broth

Pasta & Grains

8 oz Pasta noodles

Baking & Spices

2 tbsp Flour

1 tbsp Worcheshire pub burger seasoning

Dairy

3 tbsp Butter

2 cups Cheese

2 cups Milk

Beer, Wine & Liquor

1 1/2 cup Stout beer

Death Valley, SC

With legendary BC Tailgaters Pops and Rick

Flip Cup at the Tailgate

Why can't we all just get along?

Favorite College Football Movie

Gracie Girl and Dan

My littlest Tailgater!

Vote for Your favorite Team Please

Cheerleaders

Boise Cheerleaders

Yahoo College Football Pick EM

Folks, follow the instructions below and cut and paste the link at the bottom. This is a fun weekly activity to measure your picks against others. No money, just for fun and a free DFT T shirt for the winner and DFT hat for 2nd and a pen for third at the end of the season! Let me know if you have any trouble signing up.

Hello Tailgater,

Welcome to Yahoo Sports College Football Pick'em.

You have created the Private Group called The Tailgaters and the Pick Set called Dan's Winners in that group. To allow other people to join this group send them the Group ID# (5374) and the Password (dan). Remember, it is the Group ID#, not the group name, that other people must use to join your group.

You are now ready to participate in College Football Pick'em. Your goal is to select the winner of each week's slate of games.